THE  EVANGELIST 


September  12,  1895. 


LIGHT  ON  THE  SITUATION  IN  CHINA. 

On  Sunday  evening  last  ex-Secretary  Foster 
spoke  to  the  people  of  Watertown,  in  the  First 
Church,  of  which  his  son  in  law,  the  Rev. 
Allen  M.  Dulles,  is  pastor.  This  was  a rare 
occasion  to  hear  a last  and  an  authoritative 
word  from  China.  Contrary  to  a very  common 
notion  Gen.  Foster  gave  us  to  understand  that 
the  prejudice  against  missionaries  and  for- 
eigners is  not  from  the  people  but  their  would- 
be  leaders,  “the  literati,  the  prospective  office- 
holders and  the  ruling  classes.”  These  “big- 
oted and  conceited”  persons,  who  are  in  love 
with  the  established  order  as  sacred  from  its 
great  antiquity,  are  prime  movers  in  all  the 
riots  sprung  upon  the  missionaries  as  pro- 
moters of  a new  civilization.  This  inside  view 
of  the  Chinese  trouble  is  not  only  valuable  as 
a guide  to  the  Christian  sentiment  in  England 
and  America,  but  is  also  a very  clear  indica- 
tion of  the  points  upon  which  punishment 
shall  fall.  The  mandarins  and  governors  are 
chiefly  responsible  for  these  outbreaks.  They 
in  the  meantime  wish  the  world  to  believe 
that  the  ignorant  and  fanatical  populace  have 
broken  out  spontaneously  in  the  attempt  to 
extirpate  foreigners  and  the  new  religion. 
And  when  requisition  is  made  for  the  offend- 
ers, some  obscure  tool  of  these  great  officials 
is  made  a scapegoat.  Pekin  cannot  control 
the  riots  so  long  as  the  real  plotters  are  pro- 
tected. To  strike  at  them  is  to  invite  re- 
prisals. The  duty  of  Christian  governments  is 
therefore  very  clear.  Putting  all  diplomacy 
aside,  they  should  make  no  secret  of  the  facts, 
and  then  see  to  it  that  the  really  guilty  are 
punished. 

The  right  to  teach  the  Christian  religion  in 
China  is  guaranteed  by  treaty.  The  duty  of 
governments  to  protect  Christian  teachers  and 
to  demand  and  secure  the  punishment  of  chose 
who  have  done  them  violence  is  simply  un- 
questionable. The  other  question  here  raised 
by  the  very  significant  letter  and  quotation  of 
Dr.  Dennis,  has  some  limitations  and  there 
might  be  diversity  of  view,  but  Christian  na- 
tions have  assumed  very  uniformly  the  right 
to  promulgate  Christianity.  The  divine  com- 
mand ; “Go,  teach  all  nations!”  has  been  held 
to  be  imperative,  even  when  opposition  has 
come  from  ruling  powers.  There  seems  to  be 
no  other  course.  It  would  be  settled  as  a 
definite  policy  if  Japan — as  may  possibly  hap- 
pen— should  demand  the  withdrawal  of  our 
missionaries.  Dr.  Dennis  writes  ; 

Dear  Evangelist:  The  periodical  lunge  at  mis- 
sions on  the  part  of  their  detractors  has  been 
in  full  swing  in  some  of  the  American  and 
English  papers  during  the  past  few  weeks.  A 
significant  comment  upon  the  spirit  of  this 
whole  business  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
recent  martyrdoms  in  China  have  served,  in 
this  instance,  as  its  text.  We  note,  however, 
with  satisfaction,  that  some  of  the  most 
prominent  and  influential  journals  in  their 
editorial  columns  have  taken  strong  positions 
in  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  missions  and  of 
the  justice  due  to  the  missionary.  The  Lon- 
don Times  is  a notable  instance,  while  the 
Spectator  of  London,  in  an  editorial  on  the 
recent  massacre  in  China,  published  August 
17th,  speaks  with  great  fairness  and  dis- 
crimination, and  in  a tone  of  decision  as 
follows : 

It  must  next  be  asked  whether  when  the 
missionaries  go  to  China  they  ought  to  be  as 
fully  protected  as  other  citizens  doing  their 
lawful  business.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  argue- 
able  that  missionaries  in  China  could  not 
claim  the  protection  of  England,  supposing 
they  were  breaking  the  law  of  the  land  by 
I teaching  Christianity.  Personally,  we  hold 
that  there  is  a good  deal  to  be  said  for  the 
opinion  that  they  should  be  protected  even  in 
that  case,  or,  in  other  words,  that  no  Chris- 
tian State  should  recognize  the  right  of  a 


semi-civilized  Power  to  exclude  the  entry  of 
Christianity. 

It  is  not,  however,  in  the  present  case 
necessary  to  discuss  this  problem.  The  legal 
right  of  the  missionaries  to  live  in  China  and 
to  teach  Christianity,  is  absolutely  clear,  and 
is  gu.aranteed  by  treaty.  The  men  and  women 
who  were  burned  and  speared  the  other  day, 
had  done  nothing  contrary  to  the  law,  or  for 
which  they  could  have  been  lawfully  punished 
by  any  Chinese  tribunal.  This  being  the  case, 
we  hold  it  to  he  mischievous  nonsense  to  talk 
as  if  the  Chinese  missions  did  not  deserve 
protection.  Are  men  and  women  to  lose  their 
British  citizenship  because  in  obedience  to 
the  voice  of  duty,  and  in  order  to  carry  out 
what  they  believe  to  be  the  will  of  God,  they 
devote  their  lives  to  rescuing  human  beings 
from  that  appalling  mixture  of  materialism 
and  superstition  which  in  China  passes  for 
religion?  Is  a man  to  have  the  English  shield 
over  him  only  as  long  as  he  buys  tea  and  sells 
cotton,  and  is  the  teaching  of,  and  ministering 
to,  the  degraded  people  of  Southern  China  to 
be  held  as  depriving  an  Englishman  of  his 
claim  to  be  unmolested  in  a foreign  country 
as  long  as  he  conducts  himself  in  accordance 
with  the  law? 

If  this  were  to  be  the  rule,  the  consequence 
might,  indeed,  be  curious.  We  should  have 
questions  asked  in  Parliament  as  to  why 
nothing  had  been  done  in  regard  to  the  flay- 
ing alive  of  Mr.  Brown,  a Scotch  tea  broker, 
answered  by  the  remark:  “It  appears  that 
Mr.  Brown  had  been  in  the  habit  of  teaching 
in  the  Sunday-school  of  a Presbyterian  mission 
near  the  place  where  he  was  killed,  and  there- 
fore the  British  Government  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  interfere.”  The  truth  is,  the  attempt 
to  say  that  the  Government  ought  not  to 
bother  about  missionaries  is  absurd.  Unless 
we  are  going  to  give  up  the  idea  that  British 
citizenship  is  a full  protection  to  all  to  whom 
it  attaches,  we  must  protect  men  whether 
they  preach  or  teach,  or  only  buy  and  sell. 

These  are  words  of  wisdom  and  dignified 
statesmanship.  It  is  an  open  question,  as  the 
Spectator  suggests,  whether  any  human  gov- 
ernment has  the  right  to  prohibit  Christianity 
to  its  subjects,  or  whether  any  civilized  Chris- 
tian Power  is  justified  in  recognizing  such  a 
defiance  of  the  principle  of  religious  liberty. 
If  Christianity  uses  only  persuasive  means 
and  is  in  strict  obedience  to  existing  laws, 
who  can  command  it  to  silence  and  call  upon 
Christendom  to  submit  to  the  decree?  God 
has  given  His  Word  to  humanity,  and  all  at- 
tempts on  the  part  of  human  authority,  either 
civil  or  religious,  to  suppress  it  and  prohibit 
men  its  use,  is  usurpation.  To  be  sure,  each 
one  has  a right  to  judge  for  himself  in  the  ex 
ercise  of  his  own  individual  liberty,  but  who 
has  any  right  to  claim,  even  in  the  name  of 
government,  the  authority  to  forbid  Chris 
tianity  to  others?  The  whole  subject  is  sug- 
gestive and  timely  at  the  present  rrio^>*^t. 

Yours  most  sincerely,  James  S.  Dennis. 

Norfolk,  Conn.,  Sept.  7,  1895. 


The  Sanitary  Era  speaks  very  sharply  of  the 
scandal-mongering  by  one  or  two  city  coro- 
ners, citing  recent  instances  of  uncommon 
flagrancy,  and  concluding  in  these  uords: 
“The  only  business  of  a coroner  is  to  ascer 
tain  the  mode  of  death  and  by  whom  inflicted, 
in  order  that  evidence  of  crime,  if  such  exist, 
may  be  presented  to  the  proper  authorities 
and  any  probable  criminal  be  detained  for 
prosecution.  Unless  they  point  to  a criminal 
cause  of  death,  private  motives,  antecedents, 
and  circumstances  in  such  a case  are  as  sacred 
from  o^cial  intrusion  and  public  exposure  as 
those  of  any  individual  in  the  community ; 
and  since  we  are  liable  under  our  political 
conditions  to  have  persons  of  no  discretion 
with  the  powers  of  coroners  turned  loose  upon 
the  bodies  of  the  dead,  it  should  be  made  a 
high  misdemeanor  officially  or  otherwise  to 
desecrate  any  one’s  person  and  reputation 
in  the  manner  of  Coroners  Messemer  and 
O’Meagher.  Better  still,  as  the  new  constitu 
tion  of  this  State  allows,  the  perverted  and 
degraded  office  should  be  abolished  by  the 
Legislature  at  the  first  opportunity.” 


September  12,  1895.  THE  EVANGELIST, 


A PICTURE. 

By  Cliarles  Tjemuel  Thompson,  D.D. 

Red  burned  the  evening’s  eye  across 
The  lake,  burned  red  and  warm. 

While  o’er  it  dark  and  heavy  hung 
The  eyelids  of  a storm. 

Above  the  russet  eastern  woods 
A ragged  cloud  hung  low, 

Where  glowed  in  fair  prismatic  light 
The  segment  of  a bow. 

Only  a segment,  for  the  sun 
With  a dash  of  arrows  bright, 
ismote  on  the  cloud  and  turned  its  edge 
Of  gloom  to  yellow  light. 

1 could  have  wished  the  cloud  unlit 
That  o’er  its  shadowed  breast 
The  rainbow  full  might  have  been  drawn. 
As  the  sun  went  down  the  west. 

And  could  I wish  God’s  promise  bow 
Had  ampler  scope  and  iorm, 

Its  curve  complete,  though  it  required 
An  ampler  breadth  of  storm? 


FACE  TO  FACE. 

By  Bev.  Theodore  L.  Cuyler. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  New  Testament 
about  Committees  or  Conventions.  Our  blessed 
Master  organized  no  Church  ; He  founded  a 
spiritual  “kingdom.”  While  He  sometimes 
addressed  companies  of  people — as  in  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount — yet  a large  portion  of  His 
biography,  as  given  by  the  four  evangelists, 
is  occupied  by  His  personal  interviews.  He 
came /oce  to  face 'with  the  Samaritan  woman 
at  the  well,  with  the  young  ruler,  with  blind 
Bartimeus,  and  with  Nicodemus  in  the  private 
room  by  night.  To  Jesus  Christ  a single  soul 
was  a great  audience,  and  it  ought  to  be  so 
regarded  by  every  faithful  minister  or  Chris- 
tian worker.  The  Master  once  took  a certain 
person  “out  of  the  town”  when  He  wished  to 
deal  with  him  alone;  and  there  are  many 
cases  now  in  which  any  third  person  would  be 
only  “in  the  way.” 

The  record  of  the  Apostles  is  also  very  largely 
the  record  of  face  to  face  labors  for  the  con- 
version or  the  spiritual  edihcation  of  indi- 
viduals. Those  early  Christians  were  men  and 
women  who  understood  their  personal  respon- 
sibility and  the  power  of  personal  eflFort.  We 
do  not  read  of  the  appointment  of  a single 
committee  or  the  organization  of  any  Boards. 
Seven  men  were  indeed  delegated  to  the  work 
of  dispensing  charities  to  the  poor  in  order 
to  release  the  others  for  personal  labors  in 
preaching  the  Word  of  life.  We  hear  very  lit- 
tle about  machinery  of  any  kind.  Nothing 
was  allowed  to  keep  man  from  man — the  in- 
dividual believer  from  the  individual  sinner. 
The  Holy  Spirit  sends  Peter  off  to  visit  Cor- 
nelius ; Philip  is  directed  to  go  and  talk  wu’th 
the  Ethiopian  treasurer;  Paul  has  a wonderful 
conversation  with  an  anxious  inquirer  in  the 
Phillipian  prison  ; Aquila  and  Priscilla  have  a 
great  Bible  class  in  the  person  of  the  eloquent 
Apollos ; and  Dorcas  is  a “sewing  society”  in 
herself. 

In  these  days  we  appoint  committees,  hold 
conventions,  and  organize  societies.  They 
seem  to  be  indispensable,  and  there  are  many 
great  purposes  that  can  only  be  accomplished 
in  that  way.  But  is  there  not  a danger  of 
divided  responsibility  when  it  comes  to  the 
great  business  of  saving  souls?  Is  not  the  in- 
dividual too  often  swallowed  up  in  the  society 
or  in  the  church?  Good  people  often  talk 
about  the  need  of  having  their  church  re- 
vived, and  yet  do  very  little  to  revive  them- 
selves. Christ  commands  His  disciples  now 
as  much  as  He  ever  did,  to  let  their  lights 
shine  in  the  world  ; but  is  there  not  danger 
that  each  Christian  may  forget  that  he  or  she 
is  the  bearer  of  a lamp?  And  if  that  lamp  be 
well  filled  with  grace  and  its  light  be  lovingly 
thrown  on  one  sinner’s  path,  more  good  will 


be  accomplished  than  by  a whole  torch  light 
procession  out  on  parade.  Immortal  souls  do 
not  go  to  heaven  or  hell  by  regiments;  they 
go  one  by  one,  and  they  must  be  saved  one 
by  one.  The  process  of  saving  is  also,  to  a 
great  degree,  an  individual  process.  In  bat- 
tle it  is  said  that  only  about  one  bullet  out  of 
a hundred  brings  down  a man.  A powerful 
and  pungent  sermon  may  be  heard  by  a thou- 
sand people,  and  yet  only  half  a dozen  souls 
may  be  brought  under  conviction  of  sin  ; and 
those  souls  must  be  dealt  with  face  to  face  by 
the  pastor  or  some  other  intelligent  spiritual 
guide.  Mr.  Moody  has  often  said  that  his 
most  effective  work  is  done  in  the  inquiryi 
room,  when  he  gets  into  what  the  Scotchman 
called  “ close  grups”  with  an  awakened  sinner. 

When  I look  back  over  my  own  ministerial 
experience,  I see  now  that  a large  part  of  the 
soul  converting  work  was  done  by  personal 
conversation.  For  example,  I met  lately  with 
a veteran  Christian  who  has  been  for  nearly 
forty  years  a zealous  member  of  the  Church, 
and  I recalled  to  him  the  evening  on  which  I 
had  made  him  a pastoral  visit.  On  that  eve- 
ing  a long  talk  with  him  had  not  produced 
much  impression;  but  before  I left  betook  me 
up  into  the  nursery  to  see  his  rosy  children  in 
their  cribs.  As  we  stood  looking  at  the  sleep- 
ing little  cherubs,  I said  to  him,  “My  friend, 
what  sort  of  a father  are  you  going  to  be  to 
these  children?  Are  you  going  to  lead  them 
towards  heaven  or — the  other  way?”  That 
arrow  lodged ; it  was  blest  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  his  conversion.  At  our  next  com- 
munion season  he  was  at  the  Master’s  table. 
Preaching  to  him  in  his  pew  had  not  brought 
him  to  a decision  ; the  preaching  he  needed 
was  face  to  face.  If  pastors  will  go  among 
their  people,  they  will  discover  that  there  is 
an  unbolted  door  in  almost  everybody’s  heart' 
if  we  ask  the  Holy  Spirit  to  show  us  where  to 
find  it. 

What  is  true  of  pastors  is  equally  true  of 
parents  and  Sabbath-school  teachers,  and  of 
all  genuine  working  Christians — if  we  are  on 
the  watch  for  opportunities.  Sometimes  a 
loving  letter  is  blessed  to  the  conversion  of  a 
soul.  A personal  kindness  in  time  of  trouble, 
or  a personal  visit  of  sympathy,  often  opens 
the  door  of  a heart  to  the  Master.  The  apples 
that  are  now  being  gathered  for  the  winter 
must  be  “hand-picked”  if  they  would  keep. 
In  like  manner  must  souls  be  gathered  for 
Christ ; each  one  sought  out,  prayed  for  and 
labored  with  face  to  face.  That  church  will 
have  the  best  harvest  this  year  which  has  the 
most  Christians  in  it  who  love  to  do  jiersonal 
work  for  Jesus  Christ. 


Professor  M.  B.  Riddle  writes  of  “Helpful 
Preaching”  in  the  last  Banner,  giving  this  bit 
of  actual  experience— probably  his  own:  “The 
most  helpful  sermons,  experience  has  proven, 
are  those  that  have  been  written  with  some 
special  case  in  mind.  The  preacher,  knowing 
the  wants  of  one  particular  hearer,  has  aimed 
to  meet  the  doubts  or  temptations,  griefs  or 
cares  of  that  one ; and  the  result  has  usually 
been  that  many  others  were  helped.  For 
there  is  a curious  similarity  in  the  spiritual 
needs  of  Christians,  especially  those  of  the 
same  temperament.  A young  preacher  was 
invited  to  preach  in  one  of  the  large  churches 
in  New  York.  He  expected  to  have  among 
his  hearers  one  good  woman  with  whose  re-j 
ligious  life  he  was  well  acquainted.  Accord- 
ingly he  prepared  a sermon  for  her  needs,  as 
he  apprehended  them.  It  happened  that  she 
was  detained  that  day  from  the  service ; but; 
the  young  man,  for  many  years  afterwards, 
heard  of  the  profit  derived  by  others  from 
that  discourse.”  No  sermon  with  aim  and  up- 
lift in  it  fails  to  do  good. 


